At this time of year, we especially pause to give thanks. Legitimate Native American concerns regarding the roots of the Thanksgiving observance notwithstanding, this biblical truth remains:

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord.” (Psalm 92:1)

Countless scientific studies delineate the benefits of possessing an attitude of gratitude. They tout improvements to physical health, psychological health, self-esteem, stress levels, and resilience. If pharmaceutical companies could figure out a way to bottle gratitude, they surely would! Fortunately for us, though, we don’t have to purchase it, we simply need to develop it.

There is a lot in the world that we could choose to be cynical about. There is no end to our potential list of complaints and grievances. We could all stand on our rooftops, soapboxes, pulpits, around the water cooler, or rant on social media ... until we feel better? Really?

While we certainly do need to be vigilant, vocal, and prepared to act in the face of injustice, bigotry and all manner of bias, these realties should never overshadow our fundamental need to have and express gratitude. You might have to think harder, look deeper, and mute the naysayers to recognize it, but we all have a lot to be thankful for. You woke up this morning? Thank God! You have shelter and food? Praise His name! There are clothes on your back? Rejoice!

But don’t stop there. We must count our blessings in the context of those who are less fortunate and in the face of issues that we are called to address. Mother Teresa, for example, flipped the notion of gratitude on its head. Typically, we are thankful for our own state of being, what we possess, who loves us, etc. Mother Teresa gave thanks to the sick, dying and destitute souls who resided in the slums of Calcutta. It was the suffering masses who became the challenge that allowed her to grow and develop spiritually and become, well, Mother Teresa. She was thankful for what she could give! If we think of gratitude in terms of our ability to give, contribute and serve rather than what we have or receive, it opens up a whole new perspective on giving thanks! Being an identifier and proclaimer of problems without finding your role in the process of remedy leads to a life of bitterness and cynicism. Our calling is much higher and more rewarding than that.

Give Thanks! It’s not about what we have, but what we can do with what we have that gives us cause to give thanks. And when our “doing” becomes motivated by selflessness and steeped in thankfulness, we will find the abundance in living of which Jesus spoke. He said in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Life is in the giving!

I thank God for today. It is another opportunity to love, serve and become. I thank God for my health. It is an essential element in my capacity to give. I thank God for my family, church, and community. They are my scrimmage field for practicing the art of active “Thanksliving.” I thank God for the societal problems, issues and inequities that I perceive. In them, I find revelation of opportunities from which to fulfill my destiny.

Our list of reasons to be thankful is limited only by the time we take to consider how blessed we truly are! Take the time and make the effort to come up with your own thoughtful list, but then be sure to follow up on the implications of It all to your own destiny!! You’ll feel better when you do. Above all, “Happy Thanksliving!”